Herbie Hall represented Great Britain at two Olympic Games and won silver at the 1954 Commonwealth Games in Vancouver

Ethel and Herbie on their golden wedding anniversary after 50 years of marriage

A former Olympic wrestler has died of a broken heart – just weeks after his wife of 65 years passed away.

Days after Herbie Hall’s wife Ethel died, the star grappler, who represented Great Britain at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics and won silver for England at the 1954 Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, was rushed into hospital.

Doctors told Herbie’s family that tests showed there was nothing medically wrong with him – and he was suffering from a broken heart. Three weeks later, he suffered a heart attack and could not be saved.

Niece Tracey-Jayne Mawdsley, 47, from Springhead, Oldham, said: “The doctors said the tests were all clear and all it could be was a broken heart. Herbie just wanted to be with Ethel. They had been together for 70 years and married for 65 and he was lost without her. He was beside himself with sadness.”

Herbie married his ‘Queen’ Ethel at Christ Church in Chadderton in 1948. The pair had met six years earlier at a nearby swimming pool.

They remained in love for six decades but after being diagnosed with dementia in 2009, Ethel had to be moved into a care home. Herbie could not stand to be apart from his sweetheart and his family were forced to find a home that would allow the pair of them to stay together in one room.

They were moved from their home in Scouthead, Oldham, to Avalon Park Care Home in nearby Salem, where they stayed together for four years until Ethel caught pneumonia. She passed away, aged 85, in hospital on January 25.

Herbie was admitted to hospital seven days after Ethel’s death. When doctors could not find anything medically wrong with him, he went back to the care home – but three weeks later he suffered a heart attack and died on his way to hospital on February 26 – what would have been Ethel’s 86th birthday.

Tracey-Jayne added: “The last month has been very difficult losing them both. But the one thing that has made it more bearable is knowing that they are together now.

“Herbie used to call Ethel his Queen and he was so sad when she had gone. They just wanted to be by each other’s side again. There is no doubt in my mind he died of a broken heart.”

Herbie, whose parents emigrated with him to a farm in Canada before returning home, had a glittering career in wrestling and toured the world. He was a member of Bolton United Harriers and was named in the Guinness Book of Records as featherweight champion of England during his heyday in the 1950s.

Tracey-Jayne added: “Nowadays he would be a celebrity. But he didn’t like to talk about his success, especially in the pub. He always said if people overheard him in the pub they would challenge him to a fight.”

When his career in wrestling came to an end in the early 1960s, Herbie worked in a mill in Shaw, while Ethel was a winder in the cotton mills. They never had any children, but Tracey-Jayne said: “They loved their family and all their nieces and nephews. They were a brilliant aunty and uncle – they were like second parents to us all. I will really miss them both.”

Herbie's funeral will be held at Hollinwood crematorium a week tomorrow at 1pm.

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